Trailer Porn

352761 Views 526 Replies 149 Participants Last post by MT4Runner, 2 mo ago

yesimapirate

Discussion Starter · Nov 12, 2013

3

And so it begins!

Mine's a custom job. An old bass boat trailer stripped down, rebuilt with angle iron, treated 1x4's in the floor, and boat deck built on top with two 2x10's(not treated and need to replace). New 2500'b axle with 15in tires. No clue on weight, but pulls smoothly at up to 80-85mph. Boat deck is just high enough to slide coolers, dry box, and tubs underneath; but not too tall that I have wind drag on the top. Each deck board has rollers on the back, but they haven't been as useful as I thought.

And yes, those are trucker mudflaps. They help keep the muck out of the gear on the trailer, and prevent the rocks from ricocheting back into the car(shattered a rear window on good ole Trough Rd).

Enjoy.

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cupido76

· #361 · Dec 24, 2020

That's a really neat idea to lengthen the tongue!

cupido76

· #377 · Apr 25, 2021

3

This is not at all what you guys mean by trailer porn... but I'm pleased with myself in this mod so I thought I'd share in case someone else is in a similar situation.

I don't have room on my property for a large enough trailer to move a rigged boat, and I don't have a truck anymore. So I need something small for gear and frames that I can still manually push around my yard to store it.

I bought a very small (4x4) utility trailer and have been modifying it to suit my needs. Built the wood box a little larger than the 4x4 frame. The top rails are a great place to strap frames.

Upgraded the axle to 1500 pounds and put 13 wheels on it, and plan on upping the leaf springs from 1000 lb rating to 1500 lb soon, even though I'm very confident I will never get near 1000 lb of GVWR. It tows great with those large wheels on such a small trailer.

The inspiration for this post is lengthening the tongue on the trailer. It was so short before that backing up was a nightmare, and now that I'm towing with a hatchback I need a little more room to be able to access the hatch while trailering.

My solution is to "sleeve" the 2x2x1/8" tubing on the tongue with 2x2x1/4" angle iron on opposing corners, 6" over each side, bolted together with numerous grade 8 bolts for a tight fit.

It came together nicely and is probably now the strongest part of my poverty trailer... lol! It's super solid.

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cupido76

· #378 · Apr 25, 2021

Counting down until someone tells me I'm going to die in 3.... 2.... 1....

cupido76

· #380 · Apr 25, 2021

Conundrum said:
Doubt you’ll die but but one lock washer each on three bolts a side without any sign of lock tite or really anything to keep the nuts from backing off seems a little short sided. Seems like a lots of raft roads have washboards. I bet someone would run some beads on the sleeves for you for a sixer or $20.

Welding it is something I've considered but rates will likely be more up here in the great white north. If I go that route, do I need to disconnect the grounds on my trailer lights? For some reason I worry I'll fry them if I don't.

Is a lock washer on both sides a thing? I honestly don't know. I assumed 1 lock nut would keep it tight?

cupido76

· #383 · Apr 25, 2021

Electric-Mayhem said:
That could be...but running a bead up each side of those angle iron pieces would maybe take 5-10 minutes. Might be worth finding a welder around there, bring him a 12 pack, and hit them up at the end of the day. Feels like there is enough industry stuff in your area that welders should be fairly abundant.

A single lock washer on the nut side should be sufficient but split washers aren't that great at holding torque especially in this application where they will see a lot of vibration. If you are really concerned...order some Nordlock washers. Sort of expensive compared to a traditional split washer but they are super good at holding torque in high vibration applications. You could also do Nylock nuts or some good threadlocker fluid if you don't wanna do Nordlocks.

Looked on Amazon.ca and a 20 pack of the Nordlock washers ranges from $15-27 depending on the size and vendor.

You are not the first person to recommend nordlocks, and the other is a friend who is a machinist.... but he also suggested split rings would probably be OK and would be better than nylocks.

I'll look into the nordlocks.

The other thing I will say is that if you saw how the rest of this bolt together trailer was put together, you might not care about these fasteners.

cupido76

· #384 · Apr 25, 2021

Conundrum said:
Yes, lock washers on both sides is a thing but I doubt it will prevent problems for you. Plus, for another little bit of work, you could avoid major troubles. Not saying they will happen but I personally wouldn’t make that my raft trailer long term solution.

Road vibration will cause the nuts to back off over time. Could locktite, nylock, or even drill longer bolts and cotter pin. Problem is, once there’s even just a little flex, that side to side flex will exacerbate the problem. You don’t need to disconnect anything to weld. Don’t have it hooked to your vehicle when welding though.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll probably look into welding it at some point. And I'll likely look into nordlocks for the other frame fasteners.

Edit to add: should I weld the fasteners in place as well or are they window dressings after the main welding is done?

cupido76

· #387 · Apr 25, 2021

Right on. I'll try to figure out a local welding solution.

In the mean time I'll keep checking the torque on the nuts.

cupido76

· #388 · Apr 25, 2021

Electric-Mayhem said:
That could be...but running a bead up each side of those angle iron pieces would maybe take 5-10 minutes. Might be worth finding a welder around there, bring him a 12 pack, and hit them up at the end of the day. Feels like there is enough industry stuff in your area that welders should be fairly abundant.

A single lock washer on the nut side should be sufficient but split washers aren't that great at holding torque especially in this application where they will see a lot of vibration. If you are really concerned...order some Nordlock washers. Sort of expensive compared to a traditional split washer but they are super good at holding torque in high vibration applications. You could also do Nylock nuts or some good threadlocker fluid if you don't wanna do Nordlocks.

Looked on Amazon.ca and a 20 pack of the Nordlock washers ranges from $15-27 depending on the size and vendor.

Not finding them on Amazon.ca but I'll look more locally... think I need to do more on the rest of my bolt together frame as well.

Thanks.

cupido76

· #436 · 12 mo ago

tBatt said:
Got a few birds stoned this weekend.. and it’s hardly even the weekend!

I was always tripping over my spare tire and having some tongue weight issues. Also the winch I had (1200# Reese) felt a little underpowered. Turns out they’re rated by empty drum and full drum, and always advertised at empty capacity. Full drum rating is 750#.

I welded a 1/4” x 1-1/2” flat bar across the winch mount and some all thread to that. Made a spare tire carrier and moved that weight forward to help the tongue weight issue.

Also got a 3200# 2 speed Fulton winch to replace the Reese. My Reese winch handle would interfere with the winch tower braces as well and this solved that issue.

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Tell me more about your roller system?

cupido76

· #437 · 12 mo ago

Electric-Mayhem said:
Just to show I wasn't joking.... who really needs a trailer anyways?

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Made it all the way to the Grand and all the way back with the 18' Dory...worked great and no worries about trailer problems. With the right trailer...I could still pull one behind me with this setup. With my raft, the overhand wouldn't be nearly as bad as well...so could very comfortably. Mounted a 2500lb winch just behind the cab and a made a roller system on the back of the flatbed. I need to do a few mods to it but overall it worked great.

Is this truck solely for boat transport or do you have other utility for it?

It looks like an amazing solution

cupido76

· #440 · 12 mo ago (Edited)

4

Probably not "porn" compared to a lot of people's trailers, but despite some setbacks and spending way more than I intended, I'm excited to be able to trailer my boat inflated again!

It's a 6x8 deck which is borderline, but the wheels are set back and it has a long tongue so the boat hangs off the ends.

I blew a bearing getting it home and paid more than the value of the trailer to tow it and get it fixed... but it has 2 new bearings and I added bearing buddies so it "should" be good to go. And the professionally made raft trailers I know about would cost a fortune to pick up and drive back to Canada. So that's out for me.

2000 pound (guessing?) Torsion axle. I had pocket stakes welded on. Redid the wiring, and added an upper deck.

The lower deck compartments will hold a set of 3 oars on each side (up to 10 footers, without the blades), and the 2 center compartments will hold my table and my homemade sleeping pad that doesn't like to get folded.

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cupido76

· #441 · 12 mo ago

Yes I know those wheels are too small but I only really drive about 60 to 65 mph with a trailer anyway with my 4 cyl hybrid so I'm not super worried about that.

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cupido76

· #444 · 12 mo ago

MT4Runner said:
That looks good Cupido. You've been busy this spring!
I really like the ammo can and the weatherproof electrical box.
I can see a lot of thought went into it.

I highly recommend a roller next.

Thanks!

The wiring goes through the side tubes that have some self tapping screws poking in to possible abrade the wires... so I ran some old rubber hose through there to protect the wires and the junction box is there to make a rewire easier, if needed, by breaking the run up into sections.

The ammo can has a few tools specific to this trailer... the right sized sockets, replacement dust caps, and I'll probably buy a replacement bearing set and grease it and leave it in there too.

A roller is on the list!

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cupido76

· #446 · 12 mo ago

MT4Runner said:
If you have room, have an entire spare hub loaded with bearings and grease. Way less mess to dink with if you have to do a roadside repair.

And buy an extra spindle nut, washer, and cotter pin...seems that bearing and hub sets don't always include them, and that's the part you lose first if you lose a wheel.

Thanks for the tips... I'll look into that.

But I suspect a spare hub might not be as trivial a think to find with a Torsion axle?

cupido76

· #449 · 12 mo ago

MT4Runner said:
Actually, hubs should be easy to find. It's the spindle inward to the suspension that is specific to your torsion axle.

The hub, bearings, seals, spindle nut, etc should be the same whether it's a 2,000# sprung axle or 2,000# torsion axle. Check the bearing and seal part numbers:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-popular-wheel-bearings.aspx

Ok thanks for that... looking into it now.

I guess I just need to remove the hub to measure the spindle diameter to make sure I have the right hub?

cupido76

· #451 · 12 mo ago

BenSlaughter said:
I'm likely more frivolous with my prep than Mr4, but I think carrying an entire spare hub is a bit of overkill. With a basic amount of preventative maintenance, and an occasional wellness check(I try to give my hubs a temp test- with the back of my hand after driving far enough for them to have heated up) you should be able to see a problem coming from far enough away to deal with bad bearings at home, between trips.

I hear you and you're probably right most of the time but I had literally zero warning before this trailer blew a bearing. I had even pulled over a couple of times to check the torque on the lugs and see if the hubs were heating up and all was fine until it locked right up.

I contacted the previous owner when it blew up and he said it was odd because he serviced the bindings the previous summer. Could have been lying or could have used the wrong grease.... who knows?

I've done everything I can think of to avoid a repeat but just want to be prepared.

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cupido76

· #472 · 11 mo ago

Any tips on how much clearance between the wheels and the fenders that I should have?

Mine is a Torsion axle and I know they behave differently but I'd still like to know I'm not going to blow a tire on a cross member.

My very old Torsion axle rides so much smother than anything I've ever driver with a leaf spring... so maybe it has less deviation built into the design?

Not sure how to test.

cupido76

· #475 · 11 mo ago

^^^ I don't know what my angle is supposed to be as it's a used trailer... but is it safe to assume that as the axle ages it will sag a little?

cupido76

· #477 · 11 mo ago

Whitewater Worthy Equip said:
That is safe assumption with humans but not with anything mechanical (if it moves or spins). Inspecting and repairing worn out parts is part of the beauty of owning things. If you don’t know don’t go.
There is nothing quite as exciting as having your wheel pass you no the freeway! If your really lucky, you could even start a

Well I don't think I feel the need to know everything about everything I do... but I try to know as much as I can and then continue to learn more.

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cupido76

· #479 · 9 mo ago

So my old trailer turned out to have too many issues outside of my comfort level to fix.

Moving on... Live and learn.

Ok my new trailer I'm attaching 2x6 lumber to the steel frame with carriage bolts but I'm sure wondering if anyone has any solutions for sealing up the holes I've made for the bolts and the compression of the bolt head in the wood?

I've spent a lot of time and effort to seal the wood and now I've compromised it with a bunch of holes and surface weak points.

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